THE PHARMACY GUY · PRESCRIBING & GOVERNANCE
Locum pharmacist prescribing: competence and governance
A question about prescribing as a locum prompted this video. My central point is that your own competence and the arrangements in the pharmacy where you work are two distinct things to examine.
The distinction behind my answer
Your competence: the knowledge, skills and behaviours behind your decisions.
The pharmacy’s governance: the policies, procedures and review arrangements around the service.
My advice is to look at both. Being able to explain a decision is important, but it is not a shortcut around either of them.
Watch my explanation
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Can a locum pharmacist prescribe?
Locum status alone does not give prescribing authority. The GPhC describes an independent prescriber as a pharmacist with the relevant approved training and register annotation. Prescribing must remain within scope and competence, with legal restrictions applying. GPhC prescribing guidance, pages 6–7.
That is why I would avoid reducing the discussion to whether somebody is a locum. The useful conversation is about the person’s prescribing role, their actual capabilities and the setting in which they will work. This article is for pharmacist prescribers; it is not permission to begin a service.
What sits behind your decision-making?
In the recording, I explain that it is difficult to justify a decision without the knowledge, skills and behaviours relevant to that field. That is the point I want to keep at the centre of the discussion.
When I talk about competence, I am asking what sits behind the explanation. What have you learned? What have you practised? What evidence helps show your development? A confident answer and a collection of certificates are not the whole conversation.
I would use those questions to identify what to develop next. The aim is to understand your own practice clearly, including the areas where you need further support, rather than treating competence as a label you acquire once.
What arrangements are in place at the pharmacy?
In my video, I ask prescribers to consider the pharmacy’s SOPs, policies and procedures, the ability to review and audit data, insurance and regular reflection. These are prompts for a professional discussion, not an exhaustive readiness checklist.
The GPhC’s guidance also addresses employers’ governance arrangements and the prescriber’s responsibilities for review and indemnity. See page 15 and pages 28–29.
Before taking on a prescribing role, I would turn the points in the video into practical questions:
- Policies and procedures: which documents apply to the work I am being asked to do, and where can I find them?
- Review and audit: how will prescribing activity be reviewed, and how will feedback reach me?
- Insurance: what arrangements have been confirmed for this particular role?
- Reflection: how will I record learning from the work and discuss it with others?
For me, the value of that conversation is making the arrangements explicit. I would not want either the prescriber or the pharmacy to rely on assumptions about what the other has checked.
Make your portfolio evidence useful
I finish the explanation by encouraging prescribers to build their portfolio. My emphasis is on the knowledge, skills and behaviours that the evidence relates to, rather than simply the existence of a folder.
When reviewing your evidence, ask what each item helps explain about your development. Does it connect learning to practice? Does it capture feedback or reflection? Does it help identify the next question you need to work on? Those are more useful discussions than counting documents.
The GPhC refers to recording development activities, including portfolio evidence of supervised practice, training and assessment. Read the guidance on keeping up to date, page 15.
Develop your clinical and professional skills
If this discussion has highlighted an area you want to develop, explore clinical and professional learning through MEDLRN. Start with the question you need to address and ask how the learning fits your role and development needs.
Explore MEDLRN learning ↗ Discuss your development with me
Commercial disclosure: I offer training and support through MEDLRN.
Related reading
How to portfolio a competency · Independent prescribing in community pharmacy
Video transcript
Read the local edited video transcript
You can't just prescribe without governance structures in place. So if you're a pharmacist and you're looking to prescribe, make sure when you walk into your pharmacy that there's SOPs in place, there's policy and procedures in place. You know, you can review that data, that data is audited, there's insurance in place and you regularly reflect on your practice. That is different from making sure that you yourself are competent. It's going to be difficult for you to justify something without actually having the knowledge, skills and behaviours in that particular field. And that is where you actually have the key knowledge, skills and behaviours, build your portfolio. Thank you for watching.
Based on my original “Locums and prescribing” recording. This article is an edited adaptation, with sourced clarification of prescribing status. The local player uses the revised edit; the linked TikTok upload may differ.
Faheem Ahmed
The Pharmacy Guy. Clinical education, mentoring and professional development.
References
- My locum prescribing video on TikTok
- GPhC: In practice — Guidance for pharmacist prescribers, updated April 2025. Prescribing status: pages 6–7; development and review: pages 14–15; employer governance: pages 28–29.